June 19, 2006
Lunch

We took a pleasant Father's Day cruise yesterday, and came across another family whose kids were eating lunch:

This osprey nest and platform sits in Herring Creek. There were at least three youngsters, which is a good sign.

June 18, 2006
Powdermilk Biscuits and other treats

So last night we went to see A Prairie Home Companion, the new Robert Altman/Garrison Keillor film about the long-time radio show.

That is an inspired pairing, Keillor and Altman. In both cases their real medium of communication is aural, not visual.

That's not a surprising conclusion for Keillor, obviously--he's the one that been doing radio for over twenty years. However, I've always considered Altman's ability to present highly realistic, multiple overlaying conversations as his most intriguing movie element. This film has several deeply enjoyable segments to prove the point.

There are passages between Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin that are just magical, forcing the listeners to lean forward in their seats to pick out the competing lines of expression.

The best extended comedic segment is a semi-ribald country song by Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly, celebrating bad jokes.

Great fun.

June 13, 2006
Harvest Time

On the way home tonight I came upon a truck carrying the results of the day's harvest.

In Delaware, that doesn't always refer to what's grown in the fields.

In this case, for example, it referred to what's gathered at the edge of the Delaware Bay each spring--horseshoe crabs.

The odd little, very old critters come here and lay millions of eggs, many of which are in turn harvested by thousands of migratory birds.

For another interesting article on this other harvest, click here.

By the way, using old fence sections and plywood remnants to boost the carrying capacity of pickup trucks is pretty common around here.

So is swerving around the occasional horseshoe crab that has bounced out of the back.